In many travel related environments plans are provided, for example in a cruise reservation application, although there are plans in many other situations as well. In the present example, reference will be made to a cruise reservation process, although this is not intended to be a limitation to the scope of the present invention.
In the age of the Internet, passengers generally search for cruises by looking at the websites of specific travel providers or cruise ships. The passenger is able to view a deck plan during a selection and can open other windows to access a multimedia website in which a deck plan and photographs of cabins (and sometimes an associated cabin plan) can be viewed.
An end user is not able to simultaneously view the available cabins on the image. In addition, the end user is unable to select a particular cabin and there is no interactivity associated with the views and options available in a user interface.
The most common way in which the websites sell cruise solutions is as described above. The end user has access to images showing the various decks on the ship. This information is not accessible to a booking flow, although it can run in a parallel section of the websites associated with the ship. Alternatively, the booking information can be accessed by the end user in another window or another tab. The end user can further access photographs and videos showing the ship as would be the case for viewing the deck plan.
In a website associated with “cruise-deals” the end user can access photographs of the cabins; videos of the cabins; and a table of the cabins. The end user has no access to a deck planor any information relating to booking. The “croisierenet” and “abcroisiere” websites use similar solutions. The end user is unable to see the location of the cabin of interest in relation to the ship in general.
In the case of the “cruise-direct” website, the end user has access to the same information as identified above in the other prior art examples. However, the end user can display booking information in another tab. As with all the other prior art examples, the ship plan is a non-interactive picture.
The above mentioned websites generally use the same solutions. None of these solutions offer any interactivity and are not linked to the booking process. As a result users can make choices based on viewed cabin plans, where those cabins are ultimately not available because they have already been booked. This is frustrating and can result in the end user deciding not bother to book anything, leading to loss of revenues for the cruise companies.
In a solution designed by “TravTech” for “cruise.com” the end user can view a deck plan and then place the mouse over a cabin to reveal further information, such as a photograph or the cabin category. The deck plan is still image-based and is not easily maintainable if changes are made.
The website “cdfcroisieresdefrance.com” discloses an image of the ship rather than a deck plan. An end user can place a mouse over a certain area of the image of the ship in order to display specific information.
US 2002/0099576 (MacDonald et al.) discloses a method and system for managing reservations such as cabins on cruise ships on the Internet with an interactive plan. The system provides graphical information and textual information relating to the room. When an end user moves a pointer over a room on the interactive image, there are parts of the image that are “clickable” in the context of an application. The availability of the cabins is regularly updated. The end user can book a cabin by clicking on the cabin in the interactive image. The system uses SmartDecks™ technology to update the representation of the available and non-available cabins on the interactive image. This application has a limited degree of interactivity and fails to provide much of the information customers require when considering which cabin to book. In addition, this application relies on the manual intervention of an administrator to detect cabin positions. The application makes use of a bitmap of the decks and is only able to process cabins. All other symbols and shapes are not able to be processed.
As a result, this reservation system only has information about cabin availability, but no information that may be relevant to other aspects, such as handicapped access, connecting cabins, distance to elevators, etc. From the end user point view, the experience is poor, with displays of static images as opposed to interactive representations. In addition, no search facility is provided with the exception of an availability search. Also, from a processing point of view, the manual entry requirement is a limitation.
In general, the prior art relates to displaying information relating to areas or the whole of the ship. There are certain prior art references that suggest further information can be accessed by using a mouse or other pointer to view further details of a particular location. The ability of an end user to engage with the prior art systems and ascertain availability and then go on to book a place is not possible. The prior art merely offers one or more layers of information to enable an end user to see some details of a particular cabin or other part of the ship.